Tanks storm central Syria town, 10 wounded: Witness

Amman: Tanks stormed the town of Talbiseh on Monday, a day after surrounding it, and at least 10 people were wounded, a resident said, in an expanding military campaign in central Syria to crush dissent against Baathist rule.

"Shelling began at five in the morning, concentrating on a hill in the middle of the town," said the witness, a resident of Talbiseh who managed to leave the town.

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria, which helps organise and document the protests, said the town of Tabliseh was bombed early Monday. It said snipers were deployed on roofs of mosques.

Syrian troops, backed by tanks, have been conducting operations in Tabliseh and the nearby towns of Rastan Teir Maaleh, in the central province of Homs, since Sunday.

Syria`s state-run news agency said four soldiers were killed and 14 wounded in Tabliseh.

Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since an uprising against President Bashar Assad regime began in mid-March.